Dopapod & Guavatron: The Perfect Pairing at Crowbar
[Thanks to Dan Fernandez @djfworkshops for his great shots!]
The Dopatron show rolled into Crowbar in Ybor City (Tampa) Saturday, January 20, the fourth of five nights together. This is Dopapod’s huge Winter-Spring tour, with dates through the end of March. After three earlier dates, Dopapod cruised into Florida for five nights with West Palm jamsters Guavatron in tow. EVERYTHING (except for Guavatron’s too-short set) was perfection this night.
We (the editorial “we”) complain on the regular about sound issues. This night (based on about one hundred, to my ears) was the BEST sound ever in the popular Crowbar venue. The house engineer had Guavatron dialed in perfectly and not too loud, and Dopapod’s sound man matched that. A great show begins at the sound booth. BRAVO! Dopapod’s light engineer also tore it up with great visuals all night long.
Guavatron had a tight window of 45 minutes, chopped to 40 when their set began five minutes late. They made the most of it, first with two brand new tunes. Casey Luden was rockin’ the space bass most of the set, launching first into “Planets,” then segueing into “Reflexive.” Drummer Cory Ricardy, who joined the band last May, had his very best showing with them, and “Planets” is his first composition played by Guavatron, a little bit “Guavafied,” Luden noted.
Guitarist Adonis Guava handled the vocals on “Reflexive” and blew it out on guitar; these boys know how to trance-dance with the best of them. The quartet spent the last 17 minutes romping through a real fan dance favorite, “Cousin Kelly.” Roddy Hansen’s synths washed over the entire proceedings. Too short… but fabulous nonetheless.
[GUAVA: Planets > Reflexive, Cousin Kelly]
Boston-based Dopapod have been making joyful noise for 15 years, and it has never been more joyful than what they’re playing right now. This was a wonderful two-set show with a killer encore. They did a walk-on to a slow recorded vamp. Once on stage, they quartet blasted into a 15-minute “Trapper Keeper” (interestingly, they closed the set the night before in Fort Lauderdale with the same tune!). Fortunately, it was a quartet; several members of both bands had been variously under the weather, and there was concern that bass player Chuck Jones might not perform. That concern dissipated, and Jones crushed the entire night.
Fan favorite “Numbers Need Humans” was up next, followed by a superb long take on “Sonic,” Rob Compa’s guitar out front. They proceeded to melt faces with a monster version of The Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage,” Compa spitting the vocals. Neal “Fro” Evans worked hard to keep everybody in the lines with his brilliant time-keeping. Compa and keyboard master Eli Winderman offered up great vocal harmonies on “Grow” and then “8 Years Ended,” the perfect end to set one.
Dopapod blasted into space with the opening vibes of “Onion Head,” Winderman’s synths again front and center and Jones’ space bass filling the room. During the jam, Winderman stood and played bongos and percussion set up next to his phalanx of keyboards. Compa shredded, Winderman killed on Hammond B3, and Evans was, well, “Fro”! They played as one on those incredibly tight passages.
The pace slowed down for “Fannie,” then continued to build in intensity. “Bubble Brain” unleashed the synths again and the B3 and some circus calliope effects. The tempo again slowed a bit for “Mucho,” which gave way to a dynamite “Dark Star” segment thanks to Compa before returning to “Mucho.” The pace increased as they moved into “Bluetooth.”
Winderman whipped out the clavinet as well as B3 for a glorious take on Jimmy Smith’s “Root Down,” which achieved a magnificent “Soul Sacrifice” vibe with Jones and Evans out front. Then somebody on stage called for Zachary David Simms to join them on stage. Many of you have seen Simms and his wonderful partner Emily Cooper perform their eclectic and uplifting sets as Future Joy. Simms and baritone saxophone helped them blow out a huge “Road Rage” to definitively close the set and the show.
As you can guess, many immediately called for an encore. Kudos to Dopapod and other bands on the jam circuit for curating lists of great covers to use for encores. Imagine my delight when they pumped great spirit into Zappa’s “I’m the Slime.” BRILLIANT
[DOPAPOD: I: Trapper Keeper, Numbers Need Humans, Sonic, Sabotage, Grow > 8 Years Ended; II: Onion Head > Fannie > Bubble Brain, Mucho > Dark Star > Mucho > Bluetooth, Root Down, Roid Rage; E: I’m the Slime]
Always support live music. You should put both of these amazing bands on your dance card.